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Thursday, 31 May 2012

Hope you are having a lovely day! Today has been another good day, wahoo! I am still feeling very positive and keeping in my mind what I am doing this for. I still haven't found 'the dress' for certain, but I still keep telling myself that regardless of the dress, I do want to be happier and healthier for that day.

Food Diary

Breakfast - Special K with semi skimmed milk (my go-to breakfast!)

Lunch - Pasta with peppers and tomatoes with a table spoon of light mayonnaise

Tea - Homemade chicken curry with boiled rice.

Most of the meals I cook are Slimming World approved, or along those lines! If anyone would like a recipe, or have any they would like to share, let me know! I would love to try some new and exciting meals. As myself and my partner do have very busy weeks, we don't really have time, or want, to spend our evenings slaving over the stove. But we have found quite a few healthy, cook from fresh meals, that don't seem to take a lifetime too cook, or require much cooking skills! I do try to be adventurous from time to time, but when money is tight and time is limited we always seems to reach for the same items at the supermarket! Therefore, as I type I am scanning the internet for some new receipes, and am going to cook atleast one new meal a week, to keep myself interested! I am sure there will be some failed attemps along the way but I will post pictures of any new meals I cook .

Exericse wise, I have not done a whole lot today. I finished work early as the Olympic Torch was going through the town I work in, and walked possibly, a mile, mile and half to see it. Not the most tiring of workouts, but moving nonetheless! Seeing the torch was fantastic, and has got me very excited to see the games begin! Below is a picture of one of the torch bearers running in my local town.

Tomorrow I will attempt another interval run, to help reach my aim of running one continuous mile. Feeling very postive I can do it!

Wednesday, 30 May 2012

Progress was well and truly made today. I went for a 3 mile walk after walk, and jogged a few times during the walk and felt great! My breathing wasn't fantastic, but I am working on improving that and hopefully by the weekend I can run a mile soldily without stopping. We walk the same route quite often so thought this would be the best way to start. I have tried jogging it in the past, and like today as soon as I have struggle to breath I stop, and then never attempt to run again for a few more weeks! But this time I am going to keep it up, and do the route atleast once more, if not twice, before the weekend.

Food Diary -

Breakfast - Special K with semi-skimmed milk

Lunch - Pasta with peppers, tomatoes and a table spoon of light mayonnaise

I have felt so much more confident today that I can do this. I wanted to do exercise, rather than feeling I had to, which is real progress for me! I have also not had any real cravings for bad food, and hardly felt hungry. I am hoping this is the sign of things to come... fingers crossed!

Tuesday, 29 May 2012

Well today was (almost) a success! The best day yet with regards to eating clean, healthy foods! Below is what I ate during the day...

Breakfast - Special K with semi-skimmed milk

Lunch - Cheese & Olive Salad - random i know, but when you have five minutes before you need to leave before work you'd be surprised what you think will be okay to eat for lunch! I've included a picture of this below, as a dressing I just threw on some balasamic vinegar, my go to 'dressing' when i'm in a rush!

Dinner - Spaghetti Bolagnese, using extra lean mince with onions, peppers and mushrooms. One of my favourite meals, as it is so quick to put together and cook, plus a good healthy meal! I am sure you will be seeing alot fo this meal throughout the year!

Snacks - Grapes, oranges x2 and 1x apple.

Now to why my day was ALMOST a success.

CAUGHT RED HANDED! I had no intentions of having an ice-cream, let alone a Magnum, but when one of the directors of the company I work for walks in after lunch into our boiling office (typical when the weather is hot in England our aircon decides to break!) with a tray full of ice-creams to choose from for everyone, I just could not find it in my body to say no.

I'm sorry!

I did check the calorie content, 260, and made a promise to myself to be good for the rest of the day. And I was, so that is why I take it as an 'almost' successful day!

I am not doing this to lose weight fast, I want it to be a life change and along the way treats like the Magnum will not hurt, just as long as these treats don't become too regular! If I were to go cold turkey and not have any 'treats' I'd be off the wagon before you could say the word wagon, so it may not be how the professionals would do it, but this is my way and I have a feeling it could work for me!

Sunday, 27 May 2012

So today was my first meal out since I have begun my journey to a new healthier me, and I have to say it was very tough! (don't judge!)

We went for a meal at the venue we will be getting married at next year, which is absolutely beautiful! We were both keen to taste the food and get a sample of what we will be eating on our wedding day. And we were not to be disappointed! The food was AMAZING! I drank diet coke to make sure I wasn't having any un-necessary calories and this is what I ate...

Ever single mouthful was gorgeous! It was so so tasty, I can't quite believe it! I certainly wasn't intending on eating so much when I got there, but the menu was a fixed 3 course price, and therefore felt obliged to order the 3 courses, (i just can't say no...) not knowing there were two mini starters as well! Woops...

So today was not the most successful diet day, I did try to pick the healthier options so hopefully it won't have made too much damage. I did also forget to take any pictures of the food, sorry! Must get into the habit of taking pictures before I dig in :) but here is a lovely picture of our wedding venue, I cannot wait to be here again next year!

Hope you've all had a lovely day. I'll be back tomorrow with more dietary tales!

Saturday, 26 May 2012

I am so impressed with myself! I attended the two BBQ's, and kept my new healthy eating in mind. Below Is what I ate during the day.

Breakfast - 95% meat sausage with brown bread
Lunch - fruit salad
Dinner - BBQ! Chicken, beef steak and a small burger with lots of salad and one small bread bun for the burger. Then there were ice creams but I resisted, it was hard!!!

I have also decided that, for the majority of the time, I am going to be alcohol free. It is something that I have never really been that bothered about, and so I would rather save the calories I would use in alcoholic drinks. There may be the odd occasion I do have an alcoholic beverage (like yesterday!) but I won't beat myself up about it when I do, unless I go completely overboard!

I have included a couple of images from what I ate at the BBQ, note to self, take pictures before you start eating! Apologies for the half eaten food :)

As part of my new healthy self I do want to start running, however I have never managed to run further than half a mile without stopping! At the moment in time England are experiencing a 'heat wave' with temperatures at about 28 degrees Celsius every day. It's beautiful but maybe a little too hot to start running in! So I am breaking myself in gently, going on regular walks and increasing the length, and pace, each time. The weather is set to cool down for next weekend so my first 'aim' of my weight loss journey is to interval jog a 3 mile route next weekend. I walk this route alot so am excited to try it jogging!

Today we are going out for Sunday lunch at the venue we will be getting married at next year, exciting! We are going with our families which will be nice for them to get to see the venue. I promise to take some pictures :)

Well, so far so good! The first day went pretty well, my meals were healthy and resisted the temptation to indulge in a mountain of ice cream and cider in the English sunshine!

For breakfast I ate Special K with semi-skimmed milk, and pasta with vegetables for lunch followed by a fat free natural yoghurt. I had two apples as snacks, and for tea had 95% meat BBQ smoky sausages with salad and corn on the cob. Yum!

Our fridge is now fully stocked with healthy foods, and I'm excited to try out new recipes to keep myself motivated. If any of you have any recipes, pass them my way! :)

To celebrate 'one year till our wedding' we did go to our local pub along the River Severn and I enjoyed a corona watching the world go by! That was the only bad thing that went past my lips yesterday so I made sure I enjoyed every last sip!

Today I am going to TWO barbecues, so fingers crossed I manage to resist temptation for a second day!

Friday, 25 May 2012

Well, here goes! My first blog entry, and hopefully the first of many!

I have attemped diet after diet, lost weight, gained weight, again and again but have never had any lasting results. I have tried the ridiculous 'hollywood' diets, as well as the popular weightloss groups, but down to my non existant will power, the weight always seem to creep back on.

In recent times I have even been part of an article for Closer Magazine where I followed a low carb diet plan, hoping the exposure of the article would encourage me to continue with the plan once it had been published. However, true to form, my bad habits crept back in and along with it came the weight I had lost.

But this is where that changes! I am NOT happy with my body, I am NOT happy with how it makes me feel nor the effects it is no doubt having on my health. Therefore, after much consideration I have decided to document, for the next 365 days, my road to a new fitter, healthier me. And, why 365 days you ask? Well, on this day next year I am to experience one of the biggest days of anyone's life... my wedding day! It is a day where all eyes are on you (which at this moment in time fills me with dread!), and therefore, what better reason to commence my new healthy lifestyle?

I do not have a set weight, or dress size that I want to be on my wedding day, the only goal I am going to set myself as an end result is to be as healthy, happy and fit as I can be for my wedding day. I have set weight goals in the past, and not suprisingly these goals have never been reached, therefore I would rather set small 'targets' along my journey. Whether it be to increase my running by a certain distance, or increase time, I do feel small 'targets' along the way will encourage me to keep motivated! And ofcourse, I have you guys to keep a close watch on me to make sure I am doing what I should be! Right?!

I will be posting every day, telling you my highs and lows, my progress and my problems. I am no personal trainer or nutritionist, but I will include a food diary of some of the meals I will be eating, as well as details of the sort of exercise I will be doing. If nothing else, it will make me be able to monitor my journey and learn where I could have tried harder!

Every Saturday, I will be weighing and measuring myself and will blog my results, good or bad! I am hoping that by blogging my journey it encourages me to keep on track, where I would normally give up. So below are my current stats, and a few pictures of me today, and I hope when you visit back in the weeks to come these numbers and pictures begin to improve!

Weight: 13 stone 10lbs

Measurments

Arms: 32cmChest: 103cmWaist: 92cmHips: 117cmThighs: 67cm

I hope you enjoy reading my blog, if you have any questions please get in touch!